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A candlelit paper dining table has a toppled wine glass and closely packed place settings, with an unwrapped gift on a chair beside snowy windows.

Essential Christmas · 2021

Father Christmas Is Back

52/100Festive FactorWhy it scores 52 ↓
UK certificate 12105 min
Comedy

Plenty of famous British faces, John Cleese and Elizabeth Hurley among them, gathered at a grand country…

On Netflix · UK subscription →
Plan this film night ↓Can the kids watch? ↓
Explore this film 8 sections

The CineClaus Christmas score

Festive Factor

Christmas in good measure.

Two paper elves inspect a miniature Christmas dining room with a crowded table, toppled goblet and present on a chair.

A little magic in the making.

Five ingredients make the Festive Factor.
Open an ingredient to find out more.

Christmas in the storyChristmas drives it, but another occasion could stand in.20/30

What we ask: Take Christmas out. Does the plot survive? Worth up to 30 of the 100 points.

A world dressed for ChristmasVisibly Christmas for about half.10/20

What we ask: How much of the running time is visibly Christmas? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

The little seasonal details6 of the 10 kinds of Christmas icon we count turn up on screen.9/15

What we ask: How many kinds of Christmas icon turn up on screen: trees, lights, snow, carols and the rest? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

A Christmas heartHow far the ending rests on goodwill, family and belief: partly.10/20

What we ask: Does the ending depend on what Christmas means: goodwill, family, redemption, belief? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

A returning traditionNiche at Christmas (under 25,000).3/15

What we ask: Is it actually watched at Christmas in the UK? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

67/100

Cosiness Rating Rating

Mostly warm in tone. Mild threat. A content ending.

How we score →
What do these scores mean?

Festive Factor measures how Christmassy a film is. Five ingredients add up to 100: story (30), setting (20), seasonal details (15), emotional heart (20) and returning tradition (15).

Cosiness is a separate score for warmth of tone, sense of safety, visual comfort, a reassuring ending and how easily you can settle into it.

How the Festive Factor works →
Your next film night

Where to watch

United KingdomChecked

Netflix

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Streaming changes constantly and we cannot promise it is still right - check the service before you settle in. Streaming availability information provided by Streaming Availability API by Movie of the Night (opens in a new tab).

The story

About Father Christmas Is Back

A woman determined to stage the perfect family Christmas gathers her mother and three bickering sisters at her grand Yorkshire country house. The plan unravels when their father, who walked out on the family one Christmas Day decades earlier, turns up uninvited with a new American girlfriend, and long-buried family secrets begin to surface before the holiday is out.

The CineClaus verdict

Plenty of famous British faces, John Cleese and Elizabeth Hurley among them, gathered at a grand country house for a reunion farce that never finds its timing. The premise has promise: a father who walked out one Christmas Day comes back decades later to a houseful of grown daughters still cross about it.

The film then leans on innuendo and lets the sisters bicker in circles. British critics were brutal, and mostly fair. It earns a look from collectors of odd Christmas curios, or anyone keen to watch Cleese play grumpy.

The family desk

Can the kids watch?

12

Our take: not one for the children: the BBFC flags sex references and language, and the humour runs on innuendo from start to finish.

Content advice & accessibility
Our age guidance
Editorial, separate from the official 12 certificate, and never looser than it.
The people behind the film

Cast and crew

The faces in front of the camera, and the people who brought the story to life.

Main cast

In billing order
Close-up photograph of Kelsey Grammer smiling, wearing a dark fleece-collared jacket over a blue checked shirtKelsey Grammeras James Christmas
John Cleese speaking into a microphone on stage at a fan convention, seated in a cream jacket and navy shirtJohn Cleeseas John Christmas
Elizabeth Hurley with long highlighted hair, smiling slightly, in a stone-coloured jacket against open countrysideElizabeth Hurleyas Joanna Christmas
Nathalie Coxas Caroline Christmas-Hope

Behind the camera

Directed by
Philippe Martinez
Photo credits

Portraits via Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence, approved for this page by a person. Sources and full photographer credits:

Kelsey Grammer · Greg2600 · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

John Cleese · John Manard · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

Elizabeth Hurley · Patrick Toselli · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

Step into the story

Filming locations

The real places behind Father Christmas Is Back. Choose one to explore.

Find it on the mapBirdsall House

© OpenStreetMap contributors (opens in a new tab)

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Map shows the selected place. Drag to explore; use + and − to zoom.

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Photographs of the real places

There’s more behind the film.
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Photo credits & location sources

These are photographs of the places, not film stills. Dates vary; photographs do not show current conditions or guarantee access.

Birdsall House · Gordon Hatton · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab) · yorkmix.com (opens in a new tab)

Howden · Christine Johnstone · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab) · yorkmix.com (opens in a new tab)

Bubwith · yorkmix.com (opens in a new tab)

Map pins mark the place, not a camera position or a route. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including any pin positions read from OpenStreetMap.

A little more Father Christmas Is Back

Film facts &
behind the scenes

For the fans who stay after the credits.

On set

Shot in a Covid bubble in Yorkshire

The cast and crew relocated to York and lived in a bubble during the shoot, with Covid-19 safety measures in place. Filming wrapped in September 2020, a good year before the film reached Netflix.

Read the story

Source: yorkmix.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Movie magic

A pub that only plays itself from the outside

The Plough Inn at Allerthorpe, near Pocklington, appears only for exterior shots. The pub scenes inside were filmed elsewhere, probably on a studio set.

Read the story
On your next watchCompare the pub from the street with the room once you are inside.

Source: yorkmix.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Movie magic

A real bakery, dressed for Christmas

Atkinsons Bakery in Howden had its windows decorated for the shoot, and Nathalie Cox was filmed there as Caroline. York gets only a brief look in: the River Ouse is shown twice.

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Source: yorkmix.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

And at a glance

The Christmas in it
Carols and songs heard: Jingle Bells, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Away in a Manger.
Releases and certificates
: On streaming. Added to Netflix.
Sources & a note on these facts

Each production story is linked to its source, in our own words. Ending details stay behind a spoiler reveal.

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Elsewhere on CineClaus

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In this collection

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Father Christmas Is Back is in this collection

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Stay for another story.All collections · The Christmas Edit